Chapter 20
Twentieth Bone: "Still On Your Side: On Your Side" is the nineteenth (numbered twentieth) and final chapter of [[Manga|the manga B. Ichi]]. It was collected as part of Volume 4. Featured Appearances Plot I. C. Prefecture Alley Shotaro is surprised whom he encounters: Emine. Surrounding Emine are black orbs, with pointed tips and eyes upon them. Emine seizes one and summons Kamaitachi, his right hand gaining bladed claws. While Emine glares at Shotaro, his friend is just overjoyed to reunite. Shotaro's glee disappears as he sees Emine come towards him, swiping at him with his Kamaitachi. Shotaro dodges and flips along the alley until he seems to be attached to the wall, like a spider. He bites a bone and descends towards Emine. During this battle, Emine thinks that his and Shotaro's Dokeshi conditions--he to perform a daily bad deed, Shotaro to perform a daily good deed--means the two can not be together. Yet even Emine seems doubtful, thinking, "Right?" Shotaro lunges at Emine, who knocks him away with his Kamaitachi. But Emine is surprised to find Shotaro swinging from a pipe above, using Bone of the Monkey. Shotaro swings himself to land some distance from Emine before leaping towards Emine again. But he leaps towards Emine not to attack, but to wrap his arms around him in a hug. He again explains how excited he is to have finally reunited. But Emine's face grimaces with sadness. Shotaro keeps talking, saying he has so much to discuss, "but I forgot all of it!" With his right elbow, Emine pushes Shotaro from him. Emine seizes one of his own blood orbs with his left hand to enact Fujin, producing a large fan that blows Shotaro away. Emine then summons two more blood orbs, one in each hand, to produce Raijin. If Shotaro knows this is a real battle, he betrays no awareness, simply smiling at how strong Emine has become. But as he smiles, Kyokotsu is calling to him. As Shotaro sees Emine transform both arms into Lightning Scissors, Shotaro hears Kyokotsu tell him that his friend is now evil. Still smiling, Shotaro, inwardly, is upset, his eyes showing fear even as he smiles and puts two Bones of the Dog into his mouth. He unleashes Guard Dog of Hades--Bones of Kerberos. Emine and Shotaro scream each other's names. Emine's Lightning Scissors slice the Kerberos's shadows. Shotaro then attempts Triple Direct Absorption of Calcium with three Bones of the Snake to produce Bones of Medusa. His hair transforms into snakes, then into arrows that pierce at the street. Emine dodges Shotaro's hair attacks. Emine seizes another blood orb and, before Shotaro's snakes can hit him, initiates Graffiti Wall, summoning a square barrier on which is written "The Wall" and "Pink Floyd." Shotaro recalls his attack. He watches as Emine dissolves the Wall and summons Bai Ze to perform his Guilty Blade. A third eye opens on Emine's forehead. Light shines throughout the alley as an explosion reverberates. Yohei's Workstation, I. C. Prefecture Elsewhere, Yohei is seated at his station and asks Mana to hand him a wrench. After she does so, she expresses worry that Shotaro is late returning from his daily good deed. Yohei exhales smoke--then knocks his knuckle against Mana's head, telling her she worries too much and that he is simply dawling. Mana, rubbing her head, cannot ignore her concern. Alley, I. C. Prefecture Shotaro blocks Emine's Guilty Blade with just his forearm. The resulting collision produces energy in the shapes of skulls and eyes. Both friends say each other's names, then separate and withdraw their attacks. Emine explains he is "made out of loneliness, apathy, and a handful of discontent." He stares at his hand. "If I can't be with the only friend I have who will accept me, I'd rather be completely alone." Shotaro repeats his friend's name. Emine concludes that he will destroy the world. And if Shotaro is really a hero and his friend, then he will stop him. "The Masked Assembly," Emine concludes: "Everything begins there." Emine then summons his blood orbs back into his body, forming dragonlike wings on his back. Before leaving, he asks Shotaro about the Seven Deadly Sins. He claims he bears those sins: Pride, Envy, Gluttony, Lust, Sloth, Greed, and Wrath. He then suggests there is an Eighth Deadly Sin: "Justice." Emine thinks Justice has overstepped its bounds. While he fears Shotaro will abuse that sense of Justice until it too becomes a sin, he turns his back to Shotaro and tells him to use it to stop him. Shotaro calls to Emine again, but he has already flown away. As he departs, both Emine and Shotaro look pained. The Masked Assembly Headquarters There are numerous cross-shaped tombstones, with birds flying around. One tombstone is marked with a skull shape, the word "Death," and an arrow pointing to what looks like a cathedral. Inside this building are tall candles, stained glass, and an organ, upon it three eyes that resemble the three eyes of Emine. A loud, energetic crowd has gathered inside, shouting "Yeah!" Lin Kinpar, wearing a fork-decorated mask over her eyes, informs Emine that the Masked Assembly will begin soon. He too wears a mask, this one obscuring only his left eye and his forehead eye. This mask as well is decorated with a teardrop under its left eye. He wears scarves, twisted and arrow-like, with that third eye upon the middle scarf. He wears a long cloak buttoned to the neck and a checkered dome crown. With Emine and Lin is Apple Shinoda, who wears an apple-shaped masked, its eyes marked with X's. But then he receives a phone call--with a ringtone that sounds like "Applriing!" He excuses himself to answer and is shocked to hear who is the caller. I. C. Prefecture slaughters bystanders]] On a large television screen in the town center, GNN reports that a kappa discovered the "twisted" corpses of workers to be recovered from the demolished Fear Factory Building. Below this monitor is a large crowd of milling pedestrians. On the median sits a man talking on his phone. He wears a jacket and a skullcap. Bystanders notice how attractive this man appears. But this man, NoFix, is on the phone with Apple, telling him that, since the Masked Assembly is about to begin, he intends to go wild. With that, NoFix releases his Powers of Spin--ripping apart the bodies of bystanders. As their blood flies around him, he refers to the experience as "refreshing." Masked Assembly Apple is shocked to hear what NoFix intends: "I don't care if Masked Assembly is from the Dokeshi Hunt or the Dokeshi Federation or if they're rabbits; I'm gonna slaughter every single one of 'em!" Apple demands to know what NoFix has done. Emine and Lin turn their backs to Apple and depart for the Assembly. Before the Assembly, Emine opens his mouth. A shadow with claws, teeth, and three eyes, resembling Bai Ze, emerges behind him. His blood orbs hover around him. The Dokeshi symbol is upon his podium. Outside the Masked Assembly and Charisma Justice]] On a twisted spiral of land sits two figures with long coats blowing in the wind: Charisma Justice and Shotaro. The spiral of land has a Dokeshi symbol upon it, along with crosses reading "I Love Radiohead" and "Kidma Amnesta." Skull symbols decorate Shotaro's cloak and shoes. The young Dokeshi clutches two bone staffs. Justice asks where Vector Jibako has gone. Shotaro refers to Vector as "a pretty direct guy" who already entered the Assembly. Justice complains while Shotaro giggles. While Shotaro thinks he is about to reunite with Emine, he directs Justice to head to the building. As they leap towards the building, feathered wings flutter from Shotaro's back. He thinks, "Emine, I will always be on your side." Trivia *This final chapter confirms Emine's abilities, which include healing, regeneration, and breathing life into creatures created from his own blood. *Fujin means "wind god."B. Ichi Manga: Volume 4, Yen Press English eBook, Pages 171, 205 *Raijin means "thunder god" or "lightning god."B. Ichi Manga: Volume 4, Yen Press English eBook, Pages 172, 205 *The signs behind Emine state the following: "Rough--"; "Bag King"; "Flowers"; "Stick Out"; "Awesome"; "The People"; "Kachinkochinichin!!"; and "Recommended." *Apple's phone rings "Applriing" in the Yen Press English translation. In the original Japanese, it rings "appurururu." In Japanese, the English word "apple" is pronounced "appuru," while the ringing sound of a phone is often represented by "purururu." Hence the sound of Apple's phone is a portmanteau.B. Ichi Manga: Volume 4, Yen Press English eBook, Pages 191, 205 Cultural References Musical Allusions *Emine's Graffiti Wall attack includes writing alluding to [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wall the 1979 album The Wall] by progressive rock band Pink Floyd. *Outside of the Masked Assembly, next to Shotaro and Charisma Justice, is a tombstone stating "I Love Radiohead." Radiohead is an English alternative rock band formed in 1985. Connections to Okubo's Later Works ''Soul Eater'' *The character Crona derives elements from B. Ichi. **Emine's ability to produce life from his own blood is similar to the Black Blood abilities held by Crona in Soul Eater. Emine and Crona even share similar appearances, including hair, build, and teardrop-shaped eyes in their shadows and abilities, as well as both having alternatively antagonistic and friendly relationships with their series' respective protagonists. As well, in their final appearances in their respective stories, Emine and Crona both have a third eye open on their foreheads. **At the Masked Assembly, Emine's collar is similar to that of Crona. **NoFix says he is willing to kill the Masked Assembly, even if they are rabbits. Crona will be required to kill rabbits as part of their training under Medusa to become a Kishin. *The shinigami Death and Asura derive elements from B. Ichi. **Kyokotsu appears more similar to Death in Soul Eater: when upset, both characters' eye sockets narrow with anger. **The collision between Emine and Shotaro's attacks produces skulls and eyes, similar to the collisions produced between Asura and Death in their battle in Soul Eater. As well, Emine and Shotaro's debate regarding the role of Justice as a sin is similar to the debate between Asura and Death regarding Order and Fear, especially when Eibon and the Great Old One of Power refer to Order, and potentially Justice, as forms of Madness along with Fear. **The cathedral is marked with numerous artistic elements that will reappear in Soul Eater. The skull shape and the word "Death" on one cross resemble the skull logo that appears throughout Death City, and the cross is a frequent symbol appearing in the Death Room and on Death Weapons' attire. The giant candles resemble those found outside the Death Weapon Meister Academy, as well as in rooms throughout Death City. The three eyes on the pipe organ resemble not only those of Emine but also those of Asura and later Crona. *The Kishin Asura and Crona both derive elements from B. Ichi. **At the Masked Assembly, Emine's third eye that appears on his mask and scarves resemble that of Asura and later Crona. **The scarves around Emine at the Masked Assembly are wrinkled and slithering like the skin scarves of Asura. *The snake witch Medusa Gorgon derives elements from B. Ichi. **Shotaro's Bone of the Snake triple attack, Bones of Medusa, causes his hair to transform into the snake tendrils of the Greek mythological figure, then into arrow tips. Medusa and the snake motif will be used in Soul Eater in the form of the snake witch Medusa Gorgon, who also uses snakes and arrows as weapons. **The scarves around Emine at the Masked Assembly are shaped like arrows, common in Medusa Gorgon's attire, as well as associated with Shaula Gorgon's last outfit in Soul Eater NOT! and Franken Stein's Patchwork Laboratory. *''Soul Eater'' draws other elements from B. Ichi. **Emine's Graffiti Wall alludes to the band Pink Floyd. Additional allusions to Pink Floyd will appear in Soul Eater, including the name of the character Sid Barett (whose name alludes to band member Syd Barrett) and the last arc of the Soul Eater manga, "Dark Side of the Moon," whose title comes from that of Pink Floyd's 1973 album. **The Seven Deadly Sins that Emine refers to will also be the theme to the seven chapters of The Book of Eibon and the seven Icons, or iterations of Noah. References Site Navigation Category:Chapters Category:Mana Hinoki/Appearance Category:Yohei Nanami/Appearance Category:Nofix/Appearance Category:Shotaro/Appearance Category:Kyokotsu/Appearance